Hamburg - Serena Williams of the United States retained top spot in the women's tennis rankings issued on Monday by the WTA while Russian Dinara Safina drew closer to her despite a quarter-final exit last week in Indian Wells.

Williams remained on 9,432 as she didn't play in the Californian Masters event, while Safina improved to 9,121 points. Third-placed Serb Jelena Jankovic has 7,985 points.

Dubai, UAE - World number two Dinara Safina has written off her 6-4, 6-2 opening defeat Tuesday at the Barclays Championships as a "bad day" as the Russian failed to recover after losing the Australian Open final.

Victory by Virginie Razzano of France marked the second straight loss for the Russian, who said she was well off her game.

"It was not my day, I just couldn't play my game," said Safina, who had won three of four matches against the number 58 Razzano. "I played worse in this loss than I did in Melbourne."

Melbourne, Australia  - Serena Williams will bid for her tenth Grand Slam title to mark a decade of play at the Australian Open when she faces Dinara Safina in the Saturday final.

Second seed Williams, who has lifted Melbourne trophys during odd-numbered years dating to 2003, is going after her fourth at the venue.

The American snapped a three-match loss streak to Elena Dementieva as she knocked the Russian out 6-3, 6-4 in the Thursday semi-finals.

Melbourne - Third seed Dinara Safina stayed on course for a shot next week at the number one WTA ranking, gaining a Friday win for the Safin family hours before her brother Marat was to face Roger Federer.

Safina, the losing finalist at the French Open, reached the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time in her career, posting a 6-2 6-2 win over Kaia Kanepi.

Safina is one of three women chasing Jelena Jankovic in the rankings with a title next Sunday enough to assure the 22-year-old of the breakthrough top spot.

Sydney - Dinara Safina carried momentum from last week's Hopman Cup final into her start at the Medibank International on Monday with a 6-2, 6-1 opening defeat of Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

Safina, who lost the teams final in Perth alongside her brother Marat Safin to Slovakia, dropped the first game against 18-year-old Cirstea but then opened up her firepower to sweep to victory.

"When I'm playing my best I know I can beat everybody," said the winner, who next takes on compatriot Vera Dushevina, who crushed Aussie wild card Emelyn Starr 6-0, 6-1.

Perth, Australia  - Dinara Safina will get a rare chance to team with her big brother Marat Safin as the pair lead favourite Russia into play at the Hopman Cup.

The eight-nation team event begins on Saturday with title prospect France (Gilles Simon, Alize Cornet) facing Taiwan. Russia goes into action on Sunday - pending Marat's last-minute arrival - with an opening tie against Italy.

Safina, ranked a career-high number four on the WTA, won four titles last season and played three other finals including the French Open against Ana Ivanovic and the Beijing Olympics against Elena Dementieva.